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January 3, 2021 Cloudy with a chance of mushrooms

Gills. January 2021

I’m always fascinated by the intricacies of nature. I’m not sure why but lately I have an urge to do some macro photography. Perhaps the first rains sparked a new interest in finding something to do when it’s overcast and gray outside. On Friday, I hiked one trail with low expectations; if I found one mushroom I would be happy. While I did find a few, and certainly had fun shooting, my intuition was pointing me to a spot where I had a feeling it was going to be good.

I was the second car in this morning and surprisingly it stayed pretty quiet the entire day. The moment I pulled in the parking area, I noticed a large collapsed log with an abundance of mushrooms sprouting from it. Jackpot! I spent the next 8 hours kneeling, crouching, bent over in awkward positions. I had a camera in one hand and flash light in other, running on just a banana and some beef jerky. Bringing the kneeling pad was a lifesaver. Most hikers passing by didn’t notice the mushrooms, let alone the tiniest of fungi that was no more than half an inch tall. As I peered through my lens, I noticed tinier bugs that were moving erratically around the mushroom caps.

For those interested, I am shooting with a $20 Canon 35-80mm with the front element taken off and a high power flashlight as a strobe. I think I figured it out, low ISO, reasonable shutter speed to stop any motion blur, F16 or smaller. I learned that I need lots, I mean lots, of light in order to get decent results at more than life size magnification. I also learned that the 3 D’s: dark, damp & decay is a recipe for mushroom heaven. I never had so much fun without any fancy gear or spending loads of money, or even traveling far. I was considering buying a dedicated macro lens, maybe some macro flashes and all sorts of other accessories that a professional macro photographer would have. After seeing my shots, the decision has been duly justified that it was completely unnecessary. Most of the fun is finding new visions and discovering something new. Just keep your eyes peeled, your mind open, and expose yourself to new places. 

As I sat next to a large cluster of brown-spored mushrooms, I imagined myself shrunken down and looking up a mighty tall stalk with the cap overhanging, and just being one of those little critters for a day. 

December 25, 2020 Merry Christmas

Last night, I had a feeling that sunrise was going to be good so I charged up my batteries and had my camera ready to go. I set my alarm for 6:45am but I knew it was going to be very hard not to hit the snooze button especially on a cold winter day. When I peeked out my window before dawn, it looked completed overcast and I couldn’t see a slit on the horizon (usually indicates an epic sunrise), so as expected, I fell back asleep. About 10 minutes after seven, I woke up again to a glaring orange glow out my window. The sunrise colors looked very concentrated toward the east. As I sluggishly pulled myself out of bed, I looked out my living room window and saw a double rainbow intensifying. I knew it! What a way to start the day; I can’t think of a better present to wake up to. 

Merry Christmas. 

December 4, 2020

Good to Epic. December 2020

Bottom Turn. December 2020

Today would have been one of those days where you’ll call in sick because you woke feeling symptoms of epic wave syndrome thus preventing any kind of work to get done. I can’t remember the last time I saw “Good to Epic” on the Surfline report; I checked and it was back in 2013! Also a first, “Epic” on the forecast. I’ve never seen such a crowd at Noriega. There must have been at least three dozen photographers, for good reason. I wasn’t expecting it to be this good considering yesterday started off with some morning sickness. Even when the swell and wind lines up, the tide rarely would cooperate. The tide didn’t seem to be an issue this morning though. I looked out my living room window at dawn and saw clean, offshore, peeling a-frames and some of the longest left barrels I’ve ever seen. Being able to work from home allowed me to squeeze in a good bit photos before the first conference call. By mid-day I would have expected it to decrease in quality, but it kept on pumping, and pumping, through sunset and into the night. 

A classic winter day at Ocean Beach, in all its glory. 

November 29, 2020

Punching Through. November 2020

On my last day, I snorkeled three reefs off Laguna Beach with an old friend. The clarity was a good 15-20 ft. The wildlife wasn’t as great as Catalina of course, but still fun to snorkel. The last time I was here was about 5 years ago, time flies doesn’t it? I’d stay down south another day but I didn’t want to put on a wet wetsuit again. I had some amazing black cod for lunch at Bear Flag Fish Co., it was a great way to end the trip. 

All my problems seemed to go away temporarily the moment I entered the underwater world. No notifications, no deadlines, just the muffled noises in the water and focusing on what’s in front in the very moment. I usually feel reinvigorated after a ‘water moment’, drawing new inspiration and motivation. This year is different; I think being attached to my electronic devices every day for hours on end, I’m not able to completely clear my mind as I have in the past. Despite being happy with the spontaneous trip and the photos, the stress still lingers, but I think it was worth it.